Gan Lan stared at the crashed streaming channel, lost in thought.
Even though the screen had been quickly flooded by gift notifications, she still caught glimpses of the fleeting obscenities in the comments.
Let’s not forget, she was a woman with a cheat ability. While its greatest use was identifying ingredients, it also gave her a photographic memory for text.
She was wondering who would be the first to call her, but when she checked, it was actually Professor Ye. A wave of warmth washed over her heart.
Professor Ye’s calm, comforting voice came through the comms. "Don’t pay attention to those obscenities online. Do what you want to do. You now have the entire school backing you up!"
Gan Lan tilted her head up to stop her tears from falling, but her voice was still choked with emotion. "I know. Thank you, Professor. And... thank you to the school."
She paused for a moment. Thinking about having the entire school as her backing, she burst into a smile through her tears. "To have such a powerful pillar of support... I’m so incredibly fortunate."
"No, the school is the fortunate one," Ye Lanyu said. "How lucky we are to have such a selfless student like you! So don’t worry, the school will protect you. When you have time, go look on the Star Network. The students have spontaneously started a joint petition to cheer you on. It won’t be too late to cry after you see that."
Gan Lan wiped her tears and murmured her agreement. In truth, she didn’t care about the comments online; it was this sudden, overwhelming care that made her cry instead.
Barely half a second after hanging up, another call came in. To her surprise, it was Yan Yifei.
Gan Lan was amazed. He had been the first to spam gifts, and now he was calling her—all this despite them having only shared a meal or two.
Yan Yifei’s voice was hesitant. After all, she was the first girl he had ever actively worried about, and he wasn’t exactly good at comforting people. "Are you... okay? Don’t worry about those comments online. We all believe in you. The most important thing is to stay in a good mood so you can make delicious food."
Hearing his rather stiff attempt at comfort, Gan Lan found it very endearing and let out a soft laugh. "Thanks for caring, but I’m fine. Those online comments can’t hurt me. You spent so much money today—I’ll treat you to another meal some other time!"
After the call ended, more notifications popped up. Having so many people care about her made her happy, but answering them one by one was still a bit exhausting. Nevertheless, she patiently assured each of them that she was fine.
Afterward, she logged into her forum account and posted a direct message: [I’m fine now, thank you all for your concern. Since the stream crashed and it’s getting quite late, I won’t be setting up my stall today. I’ll have to see everyone tomorrow.]
Only after posting that did she go on the Star Network to check the joint petition Professor Ye had mentioned. The tears Gan Lan had just forced back instantly welled up again.
Scrolling past the obscenities hadn’t fazed her in the slightest. But after reading the joint petition, her tears flowed unstoppably. These people were just... just so touching. How could they be so sweet and heartwarming?
Burying her face in her hands, tears seeped through her fingers. Laughing and crying at the same time, her emotions were indescribable. At this moment, she truly considered herself a part of Mingzong. For the first time, she felt a real sense of belonging.
She had always called them "future people," but now, she was one of them too.
Gan Lan wiped away her tears with a bright smile. "This is wonderful! To be lucky enough to come here, to be lucky enough to meet such a lovely group of people! It really is wonderful!"
She checked the time. It was seven o’clock. There was still time to make a hotpot—simple and convenient! Plus, it would be a lively and bustling meal to share.
She quickly logged onto the Star Network store and bought a massive pile of hotpot ingredients, along with the spices and seasonings needed for the soup base. Tonight, she guaranteed there would be more than enough food. She would make them eat until they had to lean against the wall to walk out!
Gan Lan shook her head, amused by the scene she was imagining.
She sent out a mass message telling everyone to come over in half an hour. Yet, in less than five minutes, someone had already arrived. It was the two big shots from the military academy next door... Wait, no, it was three big shots.
Even though she had mentioned in her message that they could bring a friend along, she didn’t expect them to actually do it—and for Boss Yan to be the one bringing someone!
She felt like Yan Yifei was completely dropping his usual persona right here.
Before Gan Lan could even speak, Yan Yifei gave her a nod and walked into her dorm as if he owned the place. He poured himself a glass of water and found a chair to sit in, showing absolutely no intention of introducing the person trailing behind him.
Seeing that Gan Lan was still staring at him, Yan Yifei gave a reluctant answer. "I don’t know him."
Gan Lan was speechless. Had this guy just given up on himself? Was he not even going to maintain basic manners anymore? In the past, they would at least exchange greetings. Sure enough, once people became familiar with each other, they changed.
"Hehe, I can’t believe we arrived first. You Mingzong folks are too inefficient!" Gao Haiyang said. Then, looking a bit embarrassed, he pulled over the guy who was standing to the side grinning foolishly.
He introduced him to Gan Lan. "This guy just tagged along like a brazen stray. I couldn’t drive him away, couldn’t kick him out. He’s incredibly thick-skinned! Completely shameless. Just ignore him, let him fend for himself!"
The supposedly thick-skinned Lu Ziyu had just returned from training in another star system and had missed the chance to meet Gan Lan earlier.
There was definitely something fishy going on with Gao Haiyang and Yan Yifei. The three of them had been eating together in the cafeteria. They had barely taken two bites when the comms of those two rang simultaneously. With practiced synchronization, they opened their messages, abandoned their food, and stood up to leave.
Lu Ziyu had assumed something major had happened. After hesitating for a second, he ran out after them and barely managed to squeeze into their Flying Car. And just like that, through sheer brazenness and relentless pestering, he ended up here.
It turned out it was just a meal. He had thought it was something serious. Originally, he had planned to get out of the car and leave, but the expressions on their faces didn’t look right at all! On top of that, Gao Haiyang was guarding against him like he was a thief and urging him to leave quickly. Even their captain had nodded in agreement!
How could he accept that? The more they wanted him to leave, the more suspicious it was. There was no way he was going to leave. So, he had clung to the car door, and no matter how much they kicked, they couldn’t dislodge him until they finally gave up.
Lu Ziyu scratched his head and gave a cheeky grin. "Hello, Gan Lan. I’ve heard so much about you. I’ve been away from Mingyang Star recently, so I missed the chance to meet you. I hope it’s not too late now. You don’t mind having one more person, do you?" After saying this, his expression turned serious, and he gave Gan Lan a proper military salute.
Gan Lan quickly waved her hands. "No, no, I don’t mind at all. The more, the merrier. Plus, I’ve prepared a lot of ingredients today. There’s plenty to go around!"
She poured them each a glass of water. "I didn’t expect you all to get here so fast. I haven’t even started cooking yet, so you’ll have to wait a bit. I’ll go prepare the food now."
Gan Lan hurriedly took out the necessary ingredients. First, she simmered a large bone broth to use as the soup base, then began stir-frying the spices. She handed a huge pile of ingredients over to the robot to process. Thank goodness for the robot; otherwise, washing all those vegetables would have been completely overwhelming.
While she was washing the herbs, Yan Yifei’s clear, crisp voice came from behind her. "Is there anything I can help with?"
Gan Lan turned her head and quickly said, "No need. I’m making something simple today, so it’ll be done very quickly. Just go sit for a while, it’ll be ready soon!"
Yan Yifei wasn’t surprised by her answer. After all, he was just asking out of politeness. He truly had a phobia of kitchens. If he ended up ruining Gan Lan’s kitchen, he would incur everyone’s wrath.
He had only been sitting for a moment when a rather pungent, spicy aroma wafted through the room. The three men sitting in the living room simultaneously sneezed.
The three of them were completely speechless.